


Take It From The Top

by PikofthePok



Category: Epithet Erased (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, its ok they get better, sylvie and gio are jerks and just dont realize it yet, sylvie forgets that having fun is ok sometimes, they just have to talk. in general
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-29
Updated: 2020-01-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:28:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22444855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PikofthePok/pseuds/PikofthePok
Summary: Sylvie's usual work routine is interrupted by some concerned friends. Or, one concerned friend, at least. He and Giovanni just can't seem to get along, for some reason. And whether he likes it or not, they'll have to work it out.
Relationships: Molly Blyndeff & Giovanni Potage, Sylvester "Sylvie" Ashling & Giovanni Potage, Sylvester "Sylvie" Ashling & Molly Blyndeff, Sylvester "Sylvie" Ashling & Molly Blyndeff & Giovanni Potage
Comments: 7
Kudos: 95





	Take It From The Top

It was late evening. The sun was beginning to set over Sweet Jazz City– a marvelous sight, really… if you got to see it. Despite his long hours and general restlessness, Sylvie wasn’t often privy to the sunset. It wasn’t that his office didn’t have windows, the curtains were just… closed most of the time. It was probably less than ideal considering how long he spent indoors, but he never found the chance to open them. His mind was always buzzing with thoughts, so even if he did remember, it’d be stifled by another passing idea before he could do anything. …This happened more times than he cared to admit.

But for now, he had work to get done. He had a few clients coming in throughout the next few days, so he had to make sure everything was ready. Not to mention, he had a lot of reading he needed to get done. Of course. He wasn’t even going to bring up the amount of emails he had to file and respond to…

Then, there was a knock. Peculiar. He didn’t have anyone scheduled for the rest of the day, as far as he could remember. Maybe he was just hearing things. Someone was probably getting a visitor or something down the hall. That made sense. He shrugged, starting to pick up what he was doing again but… There was another knock. Louder, this time. He raised an eyebrow. Okay, that was definitely at his door. He pushed his chair away from his desk, pausing a moment before standing up and trotting over. Leaning close, he could hear muffled chatter. The voices sounded… familiar. Was that…?

Sylvie pulled the door open. “What are you doing here?” he asked, tiredly gazing at his unexpected guests. They jumped, seemingly in the middle of a conversation as he came out to greet him.

“Uhhh, what do you think? We’re checkin’ in on you.” said the taller of the two– an out of uniform Banzai Captain by the name of Giovanni Potage. He was sporting a rather comfortable looking jacket with a furred hood, hands in his pockets. Beside him stood his friend, Molly Blyndeff, who gave a little wave. Sylvie put on his best poker face (which he was very good at, he might add) and let out a sigh.

“And why is that?” He said, motioning with his free hand to continue. He didn’t exactly take kindly to having his work interrupted. Especially by him. Giovanni scoffed and rolled his eyes. “To make sure you didn’t die, obviously.”

“Well, we texted you earlier about it… but you didn’t respond.” Molly chimed in, tapping her foot behind her absentmindedly. Oh. Right. The group chat. He forgot about that. He was still getting used to checking these things. “Oh, uh. Sorry.” He mumbled, averting his gaze. “I’ve been a little busy today.”

“That’s all right, Sylvie!” Molly chimed. “What are you up to?”

“Well–”

“Probably some kinda nerd stuff, right Bear Trap?” Giovanni interrupted with a grin, prodding Molly with his elbow. Sylvie bit back a retort, taking a deep breath while adjusting his glasses. “It is _not_. ‘Nerd Stuff.’” He explained. “It’s work. For my job. I’m a _psychologist,_ remember?”

“Yeah, yeah. You told us before.” Giovanni groaned. “Like a thousand times.”

“Oh, please. At least I _have_ a job and don’t just run around smashing windows and shoplifting.”

“HEY. Smashing windows is a _highly dangerous_ and _respectable crime._ ” 

“That’s an oxymoron.”

“ _You’re_ an oxymoron.”

“Guuuuys…” Molly interrupted. “We came here for a reason, remember?” The two paused their skirmish, giving each other a long look. Sylvie blinked plainly. Giovanni stuck out his tongue. 

“What are you here for again?” Sylvie asked, pointedly ignoring Giovanni’s antics. 

“Well, it was mostly to check if you were all right, but also to see if you wanted to hang out today!” Molly explained. “...If you aren’t too busy.” Sylvie raised an eyebrow, eyes drifting back to Giovanni. The Banzai Captain’s attention had already drifted elsewhere, staring at the patterns on the ceiling. He probably just came because of Molly, now that he thought about it. He wouldn’t be surprised. He hummed thoughtfully.

“Well, I _am_ a bit busy today…” Sylvie started, “But you can stick around if you’d like. Just don’t touch anything.” He added the final part with an unsubtle glance at Giovanni, swinging back into his apartment and sitting at his desk. It… wasn’t the cleanest living area, he’d admit, but if it worked, it worked. The floor was littered with loose papers he couldn’t remember if he needed, but the immediate area around his desk was very organized. Sort of. ...Okay, so it wasn’t any cleaner than the floor, but at least he knew which piles were which. There was a couch directly across from his desk, and a small kitchen just behind that. Not terribly big, but he didn’t need much. 

...To be honest, he didn’t expect anyone to come over. He would’ve tried to tidy everything up if he’d known. Or at least, that’s what he told himself. He’d been telling himself to clean up for weeks. It didn’t seem like the others minded, at least. They seemed to be busying themselves just fine by poking around on the shelves and such. He sighed quietly. Okay, this would be fine. He wasn’t prepared in the least, but it would be fine. He began typing on his keyboard once again, the natural rhythm of filling things out kicking in until…

“All right, up ya go!”

Sylvie jumped as a voice suddenly came from behind him, two hands grabbing him from under the arms. He barely got the chance to protest as Giovanni handily lifted him from his chair, casually tucking him under one arm with a pat.

“Wh-- HEY!” Sylvie shouted. “Put me down!”

“C’mon, Four Eyes. It’s Hangout Time not ‘More Nerd Shit’ Time!” Giovanni said, stepping out from behind the desk, managing to bonk Sylvie’s head against the wall.  
“OW! Watch it!” Sylvie hissed, but Giovanni ignored him.

“Here, look! Bear Trap brought some games!”

Giovanni unceremoniously dropped Sylvie on the couch, dusting off his hands exaggeratedly. Sylvie took a moment to push his glasses back into place with an aggravated huff, sitting up in time to see Molly removing some boxes from her backpack. 

“It’d be _great_ if you _asked_ before picking me up like that.” He said. Giovanni rolled his eyes. “Whatever. You can’t just keep typing away like that all the time! Take a break, relax!” He said, plopping down beside Molly.

“I take _plenty_ of breaks.” Sylvie retorted, crossing his arms. “Getting up to stretch promotes productivity.”

“Nuh-uh. Not like that. Real breaks.” Giovanni said, crossing his arms as well. “When was the last time you _weren’t_ doing ‘work things.’” He added the last part with air quotes.

“Easy. It was…” Sylvie trailed off. Well, obviously he takes _breaks._ Not as much as he probably should’ve, but he still did. ...Right? But thinking back, he couldn’t quite remember. It _was_ true that days tended to blend together sometimes, but…

“Exactly.” Sylvie was snapped back into reality as Giovanni chimed in. “Now c’mon, Molly brought Uno!”

It was a rather simple card game. He hadn’t played it very often, but it seemed easy enough. Giovanni seemed to get _really_ into it, complete with suspicious giggles and smug grins between turns. Easy tells. Or maybe it was some sort of trick, and he just wanted to make him think that… no-- wait. It was just a silly game. He couldn’t be wasting his effort on something this trivial. He watched as Molly passed her turn to Giovanni, a mischievous spark in his eyes. Triumphantly, he quickly pulled a card from his deck and slapped it down on the table. A draw four.

“HA! GOTTEM! Draw four, nerd!” He crowed, holding his arms up excitedly. Sylvie placed his cards on the couch beside him, holding his hands up unenthusiastically. “Oh no. I’ve lost. Oh, well.” He said, standing up and beginning to walk back over to his desk.

“Hey-- wh-- no!” Giovanni sputtered, grabbing the sleeve of Sylvie’s coat as he passed by. He let out a begrudging sigh, stopping in his tracks. “Hold on just a second. You still have cards left! You can’t just quit!”

“Oh, come on. I have things to do, I can’t just sit here playing cards. Not to mention, you played the… the black one, I might as well call it there.” Sylvie said.

“Sylvie, you _know_ that’s not how Uno works.” Molly interrupted. Sylvie sighed deeply.

“I know, it’s just…” He began, “I can’t be wasting my time on a card game when there’s so much to get done.”

“Well, it’s not wasting time if you’re having fun!” Molly said. Sylvie took a sharp inhale.

“...Yeah, sure.” He said quickly. Giovanni frowned, setting his cards on the ground beside him.

“Kid, do you have any idea how to have fun?” He said, but Sylvie quickly shot him a look.

“I am _not_. A kid.” He said, pulling his sleeve from Giovanni’s grasp. “And I know _perfectly well_ what fun is. I just know when it’s okay to goof off and when it’s time to get serious, unlike _you_.”

“Uh, I am perfectly productive, I’ll have you know.” Giovanni scoffed. “Remind me again who totally killed that museum heist?”

“That doesn’t count! You were literally committing a crime!” Sylvie argued.

“Guys…” Molly said.

“Oh, please. Like you didn’t. What did you even do?”

“So we’re doing that now, huh? _I_ was the one who saved you time so that woman wouldn’t get away! Did you just forget about that?”

“Oh yeah, because passing out on the floor was _super helpful_.”

Sylvie bit his tongue. He hadn’t even noticed his hands clenched tightly by his sides, nails digging into his palms painfully. So that was it, huh? That’s how he wanted to play it? After all that, putting himself in danger to help them, this is the thanks he got? Fine. That was fine. He took a deep breath through his teeth. He watched as Molly gave Giovanni a sharp look. Giovanni opened his mouth to protest, but… no sound came out. He looked equally taken aback, giving Molly a confused look, but she met his gaze intensely. She must’ve been using her epithet. After a moment, his suspicion was proven true as she closed her eyes, the natural ambiance of the room returning to normal volume. 

“Guys. I know you’re upset, but this isn’t the way to settle things!” She said firmly. “We can’t get anywhere if you keep fighting each other! I know what happened was really stressful, but we’re just going to have to… talk it out.” Sylvie glared at Giovanni, who stared back with narrowed eyes. He turned away.

“Obviously, you don’t seem to want anything to do with me.” Sylvie growled. “Then don’t bother. I won’t waste any time on you either.”

“Sylvie, that’s not true!” Molly said. “We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t care!”

Sylvie didn’t turn back. “Yeah, sure. Say that to _him._ ” He scoffed. Something he couldn't quite catch flashed through Molly's eyes for a moment, but it faded as quickly as it happened. Instead, she turned to Giovanni.

“Boss, why did you say that to Sylvie?” She asked firmly. Giovanni gave Molly a displeased look, almost as if to say _Do I have to?_ But her intensity remained. They kept eye contact for a few moments, then...

“Fine. I just don’t see why we should go out of our way for someone like him. He’s a jerk!” He began. But then, his tone softened. “And… he hurt you, remember? He made you cry. I just don’t think I can trust him after something like that.”

Sylvie was taken aback. He… didn’t think he would answer that way. He thought that they were only sticking together because of the Banzai Blasters, but… thinking back, it did seem like he genuinely cared about Molly. He seemed to act with her best intentions in mind, even if he was… immature about the way he handled things. Sylvie grabbed the hem of his coat, rubbing the seam between his fingers. Admittedly, he still felt horrible about what happened. Nightmare Fuel wasn’t exactly something to be taken lightly. Not to mention, when he found out about why it happened…

“You know I wouldn’t have done that if I didn’t think you were criminals, right?” Sylvie said, facing Giovanni. “I don’t just go around attacking people. I’m not a monster. I just…” He paused. “I was just misled. And I… I’m sorry about that.”

Giovanni furrowed his brow, crossing his arms tightly. “...All right.” But something still seemed to be bothering him. “I just don’t get it. All this time you’ve been acting all _high and mighty_ like you’re _so_ much better than us. Why do _you_ care?”

Molly looked as though she was about to say something, but then she blinked. She looked up and quickly turned to Giovanni. “Boss… When she.. when Mera cornered us, what did you see?” Sylvie paused. What was she thinking…?

Giovanni blinked. “Uh, well… There was fire everywhere, and that lady almost had you.” He seemed irritated just talking about it. “I’m glad I got there when I did. If I didn’t get there in time...”

“And that’s it? Nothing before that?”

He thought for a moment, then… “No, I don’t think so.” Sylvie frowned. Why was she bringing this up, of all things? It… it wasn’t something he was exactly fond of remembering. He should’ve done better. But he messed it up, like everything else. Maybe that was why Giovanni hated him. He wouldn’t blame him, if that were the case. Instead, he just ended up letting everyone down and getting himself hurt and--

“Giovanni… you didn’t see what Sylvie did for me, did you?” Molly said softly. Didn’t see…?

“What?” Giovanni’s eyes flicked towards Sylvie confusedly. “Well… no. He was passed out when I got there.”

Oh.

Molly’s eyes softened. Now she understood. “Boss, I… Before you made it to us, Sylvie was still fighting Mera. He got hurt really badly and she almost got me, but… Sylvie stopped her. He protected me, and he got his Epithet stolen because of it.”

Giovanni stopped, eyes widening. “I… you what?” He said, turning towards Sylvie. Sylvie dipped his head, clutching his coat a bit tighter. “You… you didn’t know.”

Silence.

“Aw, kid…” Giovanni began, but Sylvie’s gaze turned sharp.

“Don’t call me that. I know. I didn’t do enough. I wasn’t…” He took a breath. “I wasn’t strong enough. I should’ve been able to stop her but…” He squeezed his eyes shut, shaking away the swarm of thoughts raging in his head. “But I messed up.” There. He said it. He avoided the others’ eyes, keeping his breathing steady. He should’ve expected this, really. After such a major screw up like that, he was lucky they even made an effort. He was supposed to be better than this. And now here he was, acting like a child.

“No.”

Sylvie jolted as a hand was placed on his shoulder. He opened his eyes in time to see Giovanni standing in front of him, the expression on his face… concerned, almost.

“You didn’t.” Giovanni sighed. “You did what you could. You shouldn’t blame that on yourself. Listen, I…” He let out a sharp breath, pinching the bridge of his nose. He looked frustrated, but… “I shouldn’t have been so hard on you. This whole time I thought you were just some stuck up kid, but… I guess I just didn’t see how hard you were trying.”

Sylvie… was shocked. He… was apologizing? To him? But… why? Just earlier, he seemed to hate just being in his presence, but now he seemed… genuinely apologetic. He held completely still as the thoughts swirled around in his head. He… didn’t understand. He quickly looked to the ground. He didn’t want to see Giovanni’s face. He… he didn’t want Giovanni to see his.

“I… I guess I’m sorry too.” Sylvie mumbled. “I spent this whole time thinking you were some uncaring criminal, but… I guess I was wrong.” He didn’t look up, but he could tell Giovanni was smiling. Beside him, Molly stood up and placed an arm around the both of them, looking between them as if to ask permission for something. Giovanni nodded, putting an arm around her as well. Sylvie… stayed quiet, but didn’t protest. A small smile formed on Molly’s face, then she pulled them together for an embrace. Sylvie closed his eyes, trying to pull his thoughts back together after their exchange. There was so much to think about-- and so much that he didn’t want to. But for now…

“So… does that mean we can all be friends, now?” Molly ventured. Giovanni looked towards him. Sylvie took a breath, letting his emotions settle, then…

“I guess…” He pushed his glasses back into place. “I guess it would be all right if we started over.” Giovanni grinned, giving him a pat on the back. Then, he held out a hand.

“Well, then. If that’s how it is…” He gave one of his signature grins. “Giovanni Potage, at your service.” Sylvie stifled a laugh, standing up a bit straighter. He took his hand, giving it a firm shake.

“Dr. Sylvester Ashling.” He said. “Pleased to meet make your acquaintance.” 

Giovanni raised an eyebrow. “Mmm. I’m gonna have to think of a cool minion name for you too, then.”

Sylvie laughed.

“Absolutely not.”

**Author's Note:**

> Despite everything, I'm still writing about the museum trio.  
> This was gonna go another direction entirely but I suddenly had a thought, so now we're here. Molly was the only one present for the entire final encounter, after all.  
> Thanks for stoppin by n givin' it a read!


End file.
